June Book Haul (I Celebrated My New Job by Buying Too Many Books)

I promised you a huge June book haul, and I’m here to deliver! This is not the biggest haul I’ve ever posted, but it did bump my TBR pile to terrifying heights. I think it’s actually taller than me now. Help me.

Also, this month, I tried something new and took the extra time to link each of these books to Amazon in case you are interested in purchasing a copy for yourself. Let me know if this is something that’s helpful, and I’ll continue to do it.

A Million Junes by Emily Henry. This was my Book of the Month Club pick for June. I’m honestly a bit on the fence about this one, but it did caught my eye so I went with it. Even though Romeo & Juliet is my least favorite of Shakespeare’s plays (love the writing, hate the story), I am a sucker for Shakespeare retellings. buy here

Russians: The People Behind the Power by Gregory Feifer. I’ve been slowly accumulating nonfiction about Russia. I’ve always been interested in Russia – I even took a Russian history course in college – but I’ve been venturing into more modern Russian history recently. By which I mean I’ve been buying a ton of books and not reading them. buy here

The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Jonathan Lyons. Lately I’ve been making more of an effort to read books about the Middle East or that feature Middle Eastern characters, because it’s something I don’t see a lot, and it is half of my heritage. I want to learn more about it. buy here

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. I read this book at the beginning of the year and loved it. So, when I saw it on Book Outlet, it was an easy decision. I absolutely love Fisher’s writing, and can’t wait to read more. buy here

Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson. I’ve been on a bit of a celebrity memoir kick this past year or so, and I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while. It was on Book Outlet, and I’m sure you can figure out the rest. buy here

Victoria by Daisy Goodwin. I’ve also been reading quite a few Queen Victoria biographies lately, and everyone keeps suggesting this one. Again, Book Outlet came through. (It was a very heavy box.) buy here

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler. I am excited about this one because it’s a retelling of one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, The Taming of the Shrew. I’m starting to work on a post all about Shakespeare retellings, and couldn’t not include a Shrew retelling. (Don’t hold your breath for that post, it will be a few months.) buy here

Mad Miss Mimic by Sarah Henstra. I’m not going to lie: I have no idea what this one is about. It was a total cover/title buy. But I’ve heard good things. buy here

What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Mullan. There are so many subtleties to Jane Austen’s novels. I loved studying them in grad school, because I feel like I got more out of them. I’m hoping this book gives me the same amount of insight. buy here

The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book by Peter Finn and Petra Couvée. Again with the Russian nonfiction. But I’m also really intrigued by how a single book could make such a huge impact. (And no, I have not yet read Dr. Zhivago, but it’s been sitting on my shelf for years. I’ll get to it someday.) buy here

Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke. I’ve already read this, and I didn’t love it. I liked it, and thought it was really original, but it wasn’t a favorite. And yet, I need this cover on my shelf. I just do. Don’t judge me. It’s beautiful. buy here

The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock. I’ve been hearing a lot about this one lately. It’s one of those books I’ve almost bought several times, and kept taking out of my cart. So I finally did it. buy here

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I feel like this is just one of those books all voracious readers come across eventually. I’m not sure when I’ll get to it, but I love the idea of having on my shelf so I can pick it up when I’m really in the mood for it. buy here

Night Film by Marisha Pessl. I’ve heard so many people taking about this one, and I’ve been wanting to read it for a while. Book Outlet had the paperback, so I picked it up and am planning on hopefully getting to it in October (I get really into Halloween reading). buy here

Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab. I loved This Savage Song last year, and I adore Victoria Schwab, so I definitely had to get this. Sadly, I have not read it yet (I decided I probably need to reread TSS). But I will. Soon. buy here

Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh. I’ve heard mixed reviews of this one, and tried to convince myself I didn’t need it. But I can’t help it. I’m super curious about a stone age Pride and Prejudice retelling. buy here

Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs by Douglas Smith. Look, more Russian history! I actually did a presentation on Rasputin for my Russian history course, and find him intensely fascinating. buy here

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. So, funny story. I’ve on the fence about this book since it came out. And then I decided to order it, because it was there, it was on sale, and I might as well have it in my library because I am interested in it. And then the day before it arrived at my house, it was announced that it was Oprah’s Book Club pick. So, I’m extra glad I have it now. buy here

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. I am really enjoying the Illuminae Files series, so I thought I would try out Jay Kristoff’s solo series. I’ve actually been wanting to read this one for a while, and will definitely pick it up the next time I’m the mood for YA fantasy. (We just won’t talk about the fact that I own Kristoff’s entire Lotus War trilogy, and haven’t read any of them yet.) buy here

And Again by Jessica Chiarella. I read a digital ARC of this one when it came out last year, and loved it. I like owning copies of books I love, and I saw this one on sale, so I ended up finally adding it to my library. buy here

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman. I’ve become a huge fan of Fredrik Backman this year, so when I saw this book on Book Outlet, I thought I would add it to my library. (Ironically, I don’t own the two of his books that I have read.) buy here

Moving Kings by Joshua Cohen. This book was sent to me by Random House, and I am actually very excited about it because the main characters are Middle Eastern, which isn’t something I see a lot in contemporary fiction. I’m currently reading and enjoying it (though I may be finished by the time this post goes up), and will have a review up on Monday! buy here

That’s it for all of the books I acquired during the month of June! I hope you enjoyed this post.

What June book release did you enjoy most? Did you haul any books this month?

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31 thoughts on “June Book Haul (I Celebrated My New Job by Buying Too Many Books)”

You have bought some amazing books! I have heard so much about A Million Junes, The Smell of Other People’s Houses and Wink Poppy Midnight. I want to read these soon. Vinegar Girl sounds so good – I’ve read one of Anne Tyler’s books and absolutely loved it. I recently read Our Dark Duet though I wasn’t the hugest fan – hope you enjoy it!

Looks like you hauled some really great books! Hope you enjoy reading them when you get to them. 🙂

Where Am I Now?, Nevernight, and Night Film have been on my TBR pile for a while now so I really ought to get to them, so thanks for inadvertently reminding me of that fact! Though I think you’re right about Night Film – from what I’ve heard it’s definitely a book for Halloween time.

I keep hauling way too many books considering I don’t read at a quick enough pace for them to even out. I’ve took the photos in preparation for my latest book haul post but am far too scared to confront my book buying problem so I haven’t go to writing the post yet – eek!

I feel you! I will never be able to read books at the rate I buy them. But my TBR pile has gotten unmanageable, so that helps keep me in check. (Still planning a trip to the dollar bookstore, though. I have a problem.)

I don’t really do huge hauls but I like bought a few books with a-spec POC characters if that counts.

About the links, I prefer links to Goodreads, as it is easier to add it to my Goodreads then and I can also click on the Amazon link over Goodreads This is also because the Amazon link doesn’t like to Amazon Germany unless you use the German link.

Thanks! I’ve heard great things, and everyone keeps recommending it to me. But I’ve also read two Victoria bios in the last year, so I think I might wait a bit so I’m not comparing it too much to the others. Looking forward to it, though!

yaaay for treating yourself to books for your new job. Best way to congratulate yourself. Also CONGRATULATIONS!! I hope you’re loving your new job 🙂
I actually haven’t read any of these on your list but I do own Ivory and Bone so I need to pick that up, i’m looking forward to all the future reviews to see what else you can convince me to buy 😉

Wow, great book haul! I’ve been eyeing The Romanovs non-fiction novel for a while now, as I am sucker for anything historical. Russia has really sparked my interest lately so it’s nice to see that someone else is curious about it too. I think you might just pushed me to deciding to go pick it up! 🙂

Wow! That is a lot of book buying, but I see so many awesome titles (AMJ is one of my tops this year, Britt-Marie was great too) and also a bunch I want to read (Smell of Other People’s Houses, Vinegar Girl). I actually liked Wink, Poppy, Midnight. I am a sucker for pretty writing. Enjoy them all!

I LOVE Russian history. Because my first name is Russian, I always thought I had Russian ancestors (I did not) and I was especially fascinated with the Romanovs and what happened to them. It’s so cool you are interested in that as well.

I have a Rasputin bio to read as well.
Have you read the Erast Fandorin novels? For awhile they were hard to get in the US, but now Grove Atlantic is publishing them. I just did a review of one.
Start with THE WINTER QUEEN. You should be able to get from Book Depository if nothing else.

Night Film is awesome, nice slow burn, long but kept me turning pages. If you are looking for non fiction about the Middle East I read Lawrence In Arabia. Yes same guy the movie is based on but it is a book written not just about Lawrence but the other key player me around the same time. I found it also helps explain why there are some of the current problems in the Middle East. Really helped me understand the Sykes Picot agreement.